Chapter Thirty - Psuedo Commandos

Wally was waiting in his Jeep when the Nevermore docked in Kaunakakai. Molokai is a sleepy little island in broad daylight and there were no signs of life as they drove through the Hawaiian night. They had arrived late and would be gone again before daylight so it was unlikely that anyone would even know that the Nevermore had ever been at the dock.

Soon-Li knew how to handle the boat and she waited in the Nevermore for them to return. She was to meet the pseudo-commandos in Halawa Bay, near the Molokai Ranch on the east end of the island if something went wrong and they failed to return by 5 AM.

The Jeep trail that Charlie made was nearly nonexistent. If it weren’t for the bright orange surveyor’s tape he’d tied to strategically located trees along the path, they would surely have lost it. But Charlie had been thorough and they found the end of the trail without the aid of headlights, just as they had planned. Charlie had even rigged an off switch to prevent the brake lights from coming on.

Rudy and Pete strapped the backpacks on and headed for the cliff head, a half mile away. Once there, they laid on their bellies with their night vision binoculars, scoping out the scene below, just like in some Schwarzenegger movie.

All was quiet below and there were no signs of life anywhere. Rudy spotted the cell building directly below them and he could see the breach Charlie had told them about, almost directly in front of the building. He could see Charlie’s Jeep in the drive, parked near the front door of the main house, so he knew that Charlie was in place as planned.

They secured their ropes to trees at the top of the steep decent and waited a few minutes until precisely 3 AM.

“What do you think, Pete? You ready?” Rudy whispered.

“Hell no! How do I let you get me into these things, Davis?” Pete asked in reply.

“It must be your adventurous spirit.” Rudy answered dryly. “Let’s do it.”

They dropped the ropes down the hillside. They were the perfect length to reach to the bottom of the bluff without touching the electric fence thereby drawing attention. Charlie hadn’t missed a thing.

Pete and Rudy left their packs at the top and rappelled down the hillside quickly and silently, slid under the fence and were outside the cell building in a matter of seconds. Rudy spent more time fumbling with the key and lock than it had taken to get there but they were quickly inside.

As soon as Rudy stepped through the door, someone grabbed his arm, twisted it painfully behind his back and had his face buried in cinderblock before he even knew what had happened.

“Alright, dirt bag, if you ever want the use of this arm again, you’re going to get us out of here.”

“Raven, it’s me.” Rudy whispered.

“Rudy?”

“Yes, let me go.” She did and he shook the kinks from his arm. “Damn.” he said.

“Where’d you learn to do that?”

“I saw it on ‘Cops’. Just get me out of here.”

“Okay,” Rudy said, “We’re going to slide under the electric fence right there.” He pointed toward the breach. “There are ropes in place just on the other side with some climbing clamps already attached. We’ll use them to climb up. You go first, I’ll be right behind you.”

“What about me?” Circe asked.

Rudy had been vaguely aware of the other person standing in the cell but hadn’t paid her much attention in the dark and was surprised to realize that it was Circe. He was a little surprised to realize that he hadn’t even considered what had become of Circe, or much cared.

“You made your bed, now you can lie in it.” he said coldly.

“Rudy, I can’t believe you.” Raven said. “You can’t leave her here, they’ll kill her.”

“You don’t understand, Raven, she’s the cause of all this. You have no idea what she’s done. Just trust me and let’s go.”

“No! I’m not leaving without her.”

“Are you crazy?” Rudy asked too loudly.

“Quiet.” Pete shushed. “Come on, Circe, we’re all getting out of here. Let’s just go.”

“Whatever.” Rudy mumbled, “Let’s go.” He’d had no intention of leaving her behind but felt compelled to ham it up just the same.


They all slid quietly under the fence. Raven and Pete climbed the cliff with the aid of the ropes and grips while Rudy and Circe waited for their turn. When they were at the top, Rudy and Circe grabbed the ropes and began their climb. Rudy climbed quickly to the top but Circe stalled out less than a quarter of the way up.

Her drug ravaged body just didn’t have the strength to pull her up the hill, especially since she was only now recovering from withdrawal.

Rudy grabbed the backpacks and headed for the Jeep. Raven ran after him.
“Rudy, what are you doing? She needs help.” Raven scolded.

“Not my problem.” Rudy said. “This is exactly why I didn’t want to bring her, she’s holding us up and she’s going to get us all caught.”

“Damn it, Rudy. Either you go back and help her or I do.” They stared at each other in silence for a second then Raven turned around, “Fine, I’ll do it.”

“Alright. Okay, I’ll do it.” He rappelled down the rope. Circe was at the bottom again, sobbing.

“Climb on my back.” He ordered gruffly.

She did and they began the climb. Rudy’s arms were already tired from having made one ascent and he wasn’t at all certain that he could do it again, especially with the extra weight on his back; even this diminutive cocaine waif’s extra weight. Halfway up he began to really struggle.

“My hero.” Circe said sarcastically into his ear as he struggled. “You sure you can do this, big shot?”

“Nope.” Rudy managed between gulps for air.

His arms were burning and he was really in trouble now, with a third of the way still to go. All he could do now was hold on. Raven and Pete began pulling the rope from the top while Rudy hung on and used his feet to help and in a few minutes, they were at the top. Rudy collapsed face first, gasping for breath.

“Come on.” Pete grabbed a handful of Rudy’s shirt and pulled him to his feet. “No time to rest, you can catch your breath in the Jeep.”

Rudy stumbled to his feet and staggered toward the Jeep. Raven and Pete helped him into the passenger seat, the women jumped in back and they were off. It had gone off like clockwork. Well, almost.

The eastern horizon was just beginning to lighten as they bounced along the primitive trail. Rudy arms burned and his entire body was shaky as he tried to recover. They hit a particularly harsh bump and something fell from his pocket. Circe, seated behind him, was the only one who saw it and she picked it up as discreetly as possible. It was a locker key with the receipt wrapped around it and secured by a rubber band. It was for an airport locker and the locker number was stamped on the key.

Circe smiled as she slid the key into her pocket. Good thinking, Rudy. What an original place to stash the briefcases. God, men are stupid.